MLB 2002

"Another solid performance by the MLB series."

Another baseball season, another game in the MLB series from 989 Sports. Once again opting for a sim. approach rather than the Triple Play series' arcade-feel, this game is meant to appeal to the more astute baseball fan. So while the game fans may be turned off by the intricacies and sometimes lethargic pace of the game, fans of the series will no doubt be satisfied with this year's MLB thanks to refined game play and the improved AI.

Presentation - 8

Graphically, the game isn't a whole lot different from last year's installment. It boasts a lot of attention to detail still; the more popular players bat and run just like their real-life counterparts, and the stadiums have all their unique land marks. Some of the ballpark's look a little drab in some spots (areas with water still aren't depicted well), but that's a minor complaint as it really doesn't detract from the game's overall look at all. The fame rate is solid, and there's plenty of fielding and throwing animations, which keeps the visuals fresh.

Sound - 7

Last year's crew of Vin Scully and Dave Campbell have returned to man the announce-box once again. Scully's play-by-play is a little sharper this time around, but Campbell's color commentary is largely the same as it was last year. It's not bad or anything, he'll actually chime in with something interesting on occasion, and there isn't much repetition. He just doesn't seem to have a substantial amount of new quips, which you would think they'd manage to throw in. Also, hearing ''R-E-S-P-E-C-T, spells respect...'' everytime you go yard gets irritating fast. I guess you can't blame them for trying to recreate that ball park feel, and Aretha's great and all, but they could've at least made a better attempt at offering more variety in the sound department.

Game play - 9

Game play is what the MLB series has always been about though, and the 2002 edition doesn't disappoint. The game offers eight modes of play; Exhibition, All-Star game, Season, Franchise, Manager, Playoffs, Spring Training, and the Home Run Derby. All of those are pretty straight forward, except for the Spring Training mode, which has always been one of the series biggest draws since it debuted. In it, you create your own player and you assign him to a team to play through a 3 to 6 game Spring Training session to see if he has what it takes to make the majors. After the short Spring Training session is over, you play through a normal season, trying to keep your created guy playing solid baseball so that he makes the All Star team.

Franchise mode is also fairly unique. The goal of it is to build a team through Free Agency , and see if you can make it to the World Series and win it all. At first, your team's comprised mainly of lower-attributed players, but with each win your team earns points which it uses to obtain star players. There's no trading allowed, all your player acquisitions are made through the Free Agent pool. That little stipulation can make for quite a challenge.

The control is pretty much spot-on, once again. Batting can be done either with or without the series' patented total control system. With the cursor off, it's a home run-fest, giving the game an arcade-like feel. With both of those features on, however, it plays a whole lot more realistically. When the pitcher throws the ball, you'll have to position a white cursor (it's size varies on the hitter, pitcher, and how they match up against one another) so that the X, or the sweet spot, in the center of it is what makes contact with the ball. Before the pitch is actually thrown, you're given a whole host of options known as 'Total-Control Batting'. Holding the L2 button causes the pitcher to freeze, and brings up a little pitch history box for you to view. From there, you can choose to try and guess the pitch type and location before it's thrown, which will result in either a smaller or bigger batting cursor depending on whether you're correct or not. It's complicated, sure. But the system is pretty easy to pick up, and ultimately just gives you more control over how you hit.

Fielding hasn't changed much at all since last year. The controls are very simple and responsive, you'll find yourself making lots of great diving grabs and robbing players of home runs within a few minutes of picking up the controller. The base running takes some getting used to, and stealing bases is still as much of a pain as it's always been in the MLB games (just remember NOT to slide into the base, which results in an automatic out, seemingly). But with a little practice, you'll be executing sac. flies and suicide squeezes flawlessly.

In the AI department, the game has improved quite a bit. No longer are the CPU batters super susceptible to pitches way outside of the strike zone. They make you work to get them out, and they'll jump on any mistake you make and drive it out of the ball park on the All Star difficulty. You'll no doubt adjust to the improvements, I'm sure. Right now I'm 74 and 14 in my season with the difficulty set to All Star and the batting cursor on. After a rocky start (this game does seem like it has a lot more fly balls and home runs then it's predecessor), winning is almost academic for me now. I'm not sure if that's just because I'm a veteran of the series, or I've found flaws in the AI to exploit. I still find myself having trouble when facing a Maddux or a Clemens though, which I guess is a testament to the quality AI. It's definitely the toughest I've seen in a Playstation baseball game so far.

There is one bug in the game which I find just inexcusable, even if it doesn't affect gameplay a great deal. Home runs don't always go down on the game's score cards or your player's records as hits. I'm not sure how this happened, as I don't remember it being a problem in any of the other MLB games. But this little flaw can be a real pain in the neck in the season mode, especially to all of us stat-buffs.

Still, the MLB series has always been known for stressing the little things and including even the most minute details that all other baseball games typically overlook. 2002 is no different; which makes it arguably the best baseball game available, and a must-have game for any fans who enjoy the simulation aspect of baseball.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/01, Updated 06/24/01